


Somebody Else's Lake

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe- Werewolves are still a thing, Dancer Derek Hale, Dancing, Fluff, M/M, Merman Stiles, Swimming, mermaiding, sbmermaid, sterekbingo, sterekbingo2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-14 17:24:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14773949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: Derek loves to go mermaiding as a hobby, he goes out every morning to get a little peace and solitude in the water... he just never expected to be followed home by anactualmermaid- or .. er... merman





	Somebody Else's Lake

**Author's Note:**

> I freaking love mermaiding and I really can't believe it isn't used more often in fandom, so I always love the idea of one half of a pair being a professional mermaid and the other half being a real one, I admittedly was mostly winging this one because my idea for it kept changing

Derek had an ... unusual hobby

He liked to go mermaiding

Not professionally, he couldn't handle all of the attention- though, once in a wile, he'd offer to do a kid's party or something, if he knew one of the parents personally, but that rarely happened

He just... liked the freedom of it

The wide open sea and nothing and no one to distract him

He used to go scuba diving actually, but eventually got a little sick of the restrictions, the suit, the gear... mermaiding provided him with a more free experience, even if he couldn't dive nearly as deep or stay underwater for nearly as long

Plus it was _his_

It was private

It was something that no one else in the area ever tried to do, and that made it the perfect way to get some peace and quiet

He used to go running but it was almost impossible to find a good time and place that wouldn't have him running into other joggers, dog walkers, or whatever else

He didn't have that problem so much in the ocean

In fact, his hobby and it's unique requirements was what had inspired the location for his business- though that was another story for another time

Once he was sure no one was around watching- not that there ever was, early in the morning by the peer- he walked to the edge of the dock with his silicone tail slung over one shoulder, double-checking one last time before sitting down at the edge and starting to slide his tail on

This was always the hardest part- well, this and getting it off again- but it was really no worse than a wet suit, it just provided a different set of problems, and actually, Derek preferred it

The wet suit was full-body cumbersome, atleast the tail was only restrictive to his legs

Once he was sure his tail was on and secured, he slid off of the peer and splashed into the water

The water was practically freezing, even though it was mid-summer, and Derek blamed the early morning air for that

He was never lucky enough to swim in the afternoons when the water was atleast _moderately_ warm, always opting instead for early mornings and late evenings, not only to edge around his work hours, but also for the peace and quiet

There was no around at this time of day

It was fine though, it didn't bother him that much, as a werewolf he had quite the high natural body heat after all

He swam up a little further, taking a breath and closing his eyes as he shuddered at the feeling of the cool morning air

He treaded water for a moment, combing his hair back with his fingers before staring out at the horizon and diving back down, intending to take a bit of a longer swim this morning than he usually did, given that he was up a little earlier and had more time before work than he typically did

He liked the solitude of the sea, knowing he would be essentially alone out here, giving him time to gather his thoughts and relax before having to socialize all day...

Nothing could be better

 

~+~

 

Stiles hated mornings

He couldn't stand the way the water cooled or the fact that no one else was around, the silence being practically deafening

But the only thing he hated more was staying cooped up in his cave longer than it took for him to sleep

So, with reluctance, he exhaled, his gills fanning out against the water, before stretching out and making his way out of the cavern

Maybe he could get a head start in hunting down breakfast or something...

He swam up closer to the surface, always liking to feel the sun on his face when he first woke, regardless of what time it was, and the moment he breached the water, he felt a wave of exhilaration rush through him

The light was bright- too bright for him to really care for- but the slight warmth of the sun felt good on his skin and he liked to exercise and stretch out his tail by treading the water a little more

He finally ducked back down, figuring that, as long as it was early and no humans were around, it wouldn't be a problem for him to try out a few tricks...

Swimming down lower and lower, towards the bottom, he stopped short and started to race towards the surface, grinning to himself and jumping upwards

For a second- just for the shortest second- his entire body was in the air, before he crashed down into the water once again, enjoying the feeling of the water slapping against his skin and his tail gliding through the water

It felt _incredible_

He started swimming downwards again, deciding to do another jump, but paused suddenly, eyebrows pinching in confusion when he saw ... someone else swimming his way

Fearing it might be a human, he hurried to hide behind a rock, poking his head up and feeling a spark of shock light through him when he saw that it was another merman- one who he didn't recognize

The mer population in this area was kind of small so he tended to have seen everyone atleast once, and trust him- _trust_ him- he would have remembered this guy if he had seen him before

He was beautifull, with dark-as-night hair, scruffy hair covering his face and a beautifull, vibrant blue tail...

He chirped quietly to himself, tongue clicking in consideration as he started swimming a little bit closer

He wanted to meet this new guy, but he wondered why he was up so early in the morning

Most merfolk waited until the water was warmer to wake and start moving around, but maybe he was just having an unusually early morning like Stiles was...

Oh well, curioser and curioser he supposed, so he started swimming closer, observing him with curiosity as he swam, keeping a fair enough distance that he could duck away from sight if he sensed danger

He wanted to meet him, but he was still cautious, he knew the dangers of getting too close to strangers, no matter how much they may seem to be innocent and well-meaning...

Suddenly the stranger stopped swimming forward, swimming up towards the surface instead

Stiles watched in confusion as the stranger breached, and.... stayed breached

His tail was swishing around awfully quickly, as if practically desperate not to fall back under the sea again, wich was odd

Stiles understood the appeal of the surface, but he was never like _that_

Finally, after another few moments passed, the merman ducked back under the water and turned around, starting to swim in the same direction that he had come from in the first place

That was weird... why had he come all the way out here just to breach the surface? Was there something fun up there that Stiles hadn't seen before?

Curiouser and curiouser indeed....

So Stiles, naturally, followed him again

Because why not?

It wasn't like Stiles had anything better to do with his time this early on, after all

The merman was definitely an odd one, every several feet he would stop, swim to the surface, linger for a moment, and then swim back down again

Stiles didn't get it, atleast... until they started getting closer and closer to the shore

Merfolk _never_ traveled this close to the shore, not for any reason

Even if they wanted to, they wouldn't be able to swim in water that shallow, and yet the stranger went on, pulled himself out of the water, and then-....

_Removed his **freaking** tail_!

At first, Stiles was agape with shock, but after a moment, he remembered how some landfolk liked to disguise themselves as merfolk for ... some reason that he didn't quite understand

So his new "mer" freind was actually a land-walker, that was disappointing

Still... Stiles really had nothing better to do this early in the morning, so he figured, perhaps, he would be done well to watch the land-walker, make sure that he wasn't up to anything nefarious with his clever guise and his swimming out to mer territory

So he swam a little further back, making sure he had enough room to quickly swim away should danger come wile also leaving himself plenty of room to see the land-walker clearly

The man was still beautifull, even with legs, and Stiles couldn't help but hope that he was just a well-meaning fan of merfolk, as he knew some land-walkers were

He'd hate to have to skin and dismember someone so pretty....

The land-walker made his way up some sort of hill and disappeared around a corner, making the merman's nose twitch in distaste

He didn't like not being perfectly in the loop, he didn't like people- even strangers-potentially hiding things from him

So, naturally, he swam around to the other side so he could get a better veiw, watching as the land-walker stepped into a building at the top of the hill- or... cliff or.. whatever landfolk called these things

There were alot of windows, floor-to-ceiling, so Stiles could see inside the little building with ease, and what he saw a few moments later was.... _breath-taking_

The pretty land-walker showed up near one of the windows after only a short wile of waiting, wich was nice, wearing clothes now, wich was less nice, and then .... he started _dancing_

Stiles had always loved dancing, he had always thought it was one of the better things that the land-walkers created

The way their bodies would move to the music, the way they swayed and swerved, the bends and breaks, the work of their feet...

It was mesmerizing to watch and merfolk had absolutely nothing like it

Sure they could sway and swish a little to whatever music they heard but Stiles would hardly call that "dancing"

He had always wished he could dance like the humans.... and now that he was seeing a dancer up close, he wanted to even more

He was hesitant for a little wile, rolling the thoughts over in his head, he had the time and the privacy to do this if he really wanted to....

He finally decided to just go for it, what was the worst that could happen?

 

~+~

 

Derek was used to surprises

He was a werewolf, he kind of _had_ to be used to surprises, one never knew when something catastrophic might happen or when he might get suddenly met with a new wolf or some kind of pack issues or being hunted down....

So he was used to surprises

But he was still nowhere _near_ prepared to be in the middle of warming up, only to catch the sound of a heartbeat nearby, the smell of fish and ocean water stinging his nose, and to take a few steps out of the main studio and into the hall.... to see a completely naked man standing in front of him, dripping wet, and staring at him with something akin to.... _determination_?

"Are you a dancer?" the man asked slowly, his voice rough and somewhat forced, coated with a heavy accent, though Derek couldn't tell where it was from

"Yes..." the wolf replied slowly, though he wasn't sure if he should really be answering personal questions under these weird circumstances....

"Will you teach me how to dance?"

.....

_What_?

Derek had to admit, out of all of the crazy, messed up, ridiculous reasons he had come up with in his head for why this guy was standing here naked, that was.... definitely not one of them

"You... want to learn how to dance..." he repeated slowly, just to make sure that he had heard that right

"Yes," the stranger confirmed with a slow nod

"Alright.... and the reason you're standing in my dance studio naked is...?"

The stranger looked somewhat perplexed by that, as if not understanding the question

Derek took the breif pause as an opportunity to think a little bit further about the circumstances here

There was some strange guy standing in front of him completely nude, who had a thick accent that Derek couldn't place, and he smelled of ocean water and fish....

"Are you a merman?" he asked a beat later

That had the stranger's lips twitching upwards, a grin on his face and his eyes practically sparkling

"Yes,"

Good, atleast that was one mystery solved....

"Have you ever been on land before?"

"No,"

Ofcourse he hadn't

With a loud, irritated sigh, he realized that his choices came down to either clothing the guy, or potentially letting him run around town naked....

And Derek cared too much about the potential of someone seeing the guy leaving his studio to risk that second option

"Come in,"

It was an invitation that he wasn't entirely sure he should be extending, and yet...

 

~+~

 

Stiles didn't know how the land-walkers moved around in such confining fabrics

He could barely stand not having his limbs free to move at their will, and he was wearing the loosest thing that Derek had to offer him- a coral colored flowing thing called a "skirt" and a loose blue shirt that was big enough on him that it draped over one shoulder

Derek- the landwalker he had encountered- seemed somewhat mortified by the combination, but Stiles wasn't about to wear anything more tightly fitted, this was bad enough as it was

"So, teach me to dance?" he asked, eyebrows raised expectingly

After all, if the landwalker couldn't or wouldn't come through, then there was no point in him being here anyway

"You know, I don't usually give free classes," he noted, pausing for a breif moment before heaving a quiet sigh, his shoulders sagging and his face turning a light shade of pink

"But... I guess given the circumstances, once won't kill me.... but in exchange for me doing you this _very large favor_ , you have to swear you'll follow all of the rules,"

"Ok, what are they?" Stiles asked easily, legs swinging back and forth- amusing, how they moved so independently of one another- as he perched himself on Derek's office desk

"First, clothes are to be worn at all times," Derek paused, seeming to think that over before editing it a little

"Unless I say otherwise,"

"Oh? And what circumstances would those be under?"

"Taking a shower," Derek replied quite blandly

Well now that was no fun

"Are you sure that's all? No other circumstances that would call for me being without clothes?" Stiles teased with a smirk, hoping to get a little bit of a rise out of the other man

He was hoping for a blush, but stuttering would do in a pinch

Luckily for him, Derek provided him with both

"I could just as easily revoke my offer," Derek noted with a deep frown, wich in turn, made Stiles wrinkle his nose in confusion and annoyance

"No no, that's ok, I'll keep the deal, what other rules are there?"

"I don't have any open spots in one of my beginning classes so we'll have to do this in the early mornings or late evenings,"

"That's fine,"

"And you can't go causing mayhem wile you're in human form, I don't know how much experience you have with being human but-"

"I have none, but don't worry, I'm not going to abuse this gift, I'm only interested in dancing anyway, atleast for now," the merman added with a small shrug

Well... atleast that was good...

"And lastly," Derek said slowly, his face turning a bit red

"I... want to know more about merfolk, and I want you to teach me how to hold my breath longer so that when I go swimming-" _mermaiding_ , he reminded himself, "-I can swim further and stay under longer,"

Stiles smirked slightly, eyebrows raising as he crossed his arms over his chest and one leg over the other

"You realize though, don't you, that I breathe underwater? I don't hold my breath,"

"I know but... I ... I want a coach to help me learn and I don't know anyone who I'm comfortable with knowing that I do this in the first place," the landwalker explained with a slightly red face

Stiles could understand that, in all fairness, he didn't want anyone he knew finding out about these dance lessons either, no one under the sea could appreciate dance, and they all thought that his obsession with it was ridiculous and childish

If they knew what he was doing in order to learn how to do it... _well_....

"Is that all then?" Stiles asked, head tilting to the side

"That's all," Derek confirmed with a small nod, waiting anxiously for Stiles' (surely) upcoming reply

The merman seemed utterly amused, sliding off of the table and taking a step closer- though he did stumble a little, apparently still a little jelly-legged and not used to being on the land

"Carefull," Derek said quickly, rushing to catch his hand and hold him steady

"Yeah... you're going to have to learn to walk before you learn to dance, you know that right?"

"Well then you can teach me," Stiles smirked

Ah... _hell_.....

"Sure, why not? What do I have better to do?" Derek muttered, much more to himself than to the merman himself

"Oh don't act so put out, I'm in good company, I have to learn how to walk on two legs.... and you had to learn, I'm sure, how to walk on four,"

Derek went utterly pale, his mouth falling open in shock as he stared down at the merman in front of him

"How-"

"It isn't that hard to tell, we learned the difference between some of you landwalkers, humans, shapeshifters, fae folk... etc, I could tell by looking at you that you aren't human, but you _are_ still a landwalker," he teased playfully

Well now Derek definitely felt embarrassed

It wasn't that he had been trying to hide what he was from Stiles or anything, that would have been pretty pointless considering they were both of the supernatural persuasion, why bother?

But it was still a little startling to be called out on it like that...

"So, you say we have a deal?" Stiles smirked confidently

Derek exhaled slowly, but nodded and felt a small smirk crawl against his lips anyway

"Yeah, we have a deal,"

"Good," Stiles nodded, leaning up suddenly and giving Derek a soft, gentle kiss to the cheek, before sliding out of his grasp, leaving a very red wolf in his wake

"Is... is that how merfolk seal promises?" Derek guessed

Stiles' smirk only grew- though now it was alot more teasing than it was flirtatious, his eyebrows raised and his arms crossed over his chest

"No, that was a _kiss_ Derek,"

And then, just like that, Stiles had walked out of the room, off on his way to God only knew where to do God only knew what...

...

And Derek didn't know what the _hell_ to make of this new, sudden development in his life, but he had a feeling that he was in for a wild ride

....

And that really didn't sound like such a bad thing


End file.
